Intuit Intelligent Economy Event March 2017

April 3, 2017

I was honored to be invited the Intelligent Economy which was a Technology Gallery Walk with Brad Smith and other influencers in the Intuit Ecosystem. This is an opportunity to see what is up and coming as well as give my feedback. It was an elegant affair where they passed delicious hors d’oeuvres and had open bar.

At the event, Intuit set up areas by the different groups such as TurboTax, Mint.com, QBO, QB Self Employed, QB Accountant, QB ProAdvisor. Each table featured a demonstration of the product working showing us a new enhancement or how it works with third party apps. These enhancements are available today, coming soon or a glance into the future. We had the opportunity to speak directly with the developers who were eager to get feedback from the attendees.

The most exciting part of the event was casually walking around and seeing familiar faces like Scott Cook, the inventor of Quicken. I had a great conversation with him about QuickBooks Dos V1. I told him I needed to share a funny story. I had been a Quicken fan for years when QuickBooks was released. At the same time, my dad was an owner of an IT firm where they were standardizing on Macola for their financial accounting software. I came racing in to tell him about this new product called “QuickBooks.” His reaction was not positive, he said “It will never make it”. I turned into a QuickBooks sales person right then and there. I told him I hope to prove him wrong one day. I then asked Scott to take a picture with me so I can send it to my dad and say, “Hi dad, I think I was right afterall. Quicken is now 34 years old and QuickBooks is the #1 rated small business accounting software, say hello to Scott Cook!”

After the photo opportunity, Scott continued to ask questions and wasn’t in a rush to speak to the next person. He really wanted to find out what got me so excited about QuickBooks v1. I explained that I’d been working in an accounting firm using software that required debits and credits journal entries, and in this program it was done magically in the background for you. Then I added that when your QuickBooks file is set-up right, it is pretty easy for the client to maintain. That was exactly his intent and he smiled from ear to ear when he saw that “I got it.”

We talked for another 5 or 10 minutes about my business and partner program. I explained that when customers use QuickBooks, they can work with a proadvisor who focuses on the support side and they can work with their tax preparer who can focus on advising the client on taxes. I explained that my role is to be the Product Expert and guide them to the right solutions. I used the analogy of not wanting to cram a size 9 foot into a size 6 shoe as I explained when QuickBooks Enterprise was the right fit. From there I explained that was the purpose of my partner program was collaboration and improving customer experiences. It was so exciting to have the opportunity to share my story with him.

Carrie Kahn, Scott Cook

Then Brad Smith took the stage and welcomed us. As soon as he was finished, we walked over to his area which included a table with several chairs where he sat down with guests and talk. We got a photo opp before his next appointment and let him know we would love to chat with him when he had a moment.

Brad Smith

Carrie Kahn, Brad Smith

From there we wandered around looking at the different booths and a few things caught my eye. Available today, TurboTax has a VIDEO chat available from the mobile app where you can ask an agent questions. For example you can ask where do I enter a 1099? They video in and point you to the area. That is available today, soon they will add this feature inside the software that you access from your computer. The support specialist cannot see your data, they can see your software and point you to the right area.

Turbo Tax Rep Demo

I wandered over to the area where they were doing a demo on QBO to show how it currently integrates with google email allows you to hyperlink to your QBO and create an invoice (this feature is not yet available). The other trick they showed was how you could open up a calendar event in google and hyperlink to your QBO and create an invoice. This feature is in BETA and coming soon!

Carrie Kahn, showing off GMAIL & QBO

My next stop was a chat with the QB Self Employed team. I asked them if their future road map included adding the ability to track a full balance sheet and they said no, it’s meant for Schedule C only. I asked about emailing an invoice to a client and having it paid thought QB Payments, they said it was already available. Then I gave him the feedback that I’ve received from my partners that they would love to see the mileage tool added to QBO as well.

QB Self-employed Demo

At this point, I met back up with another Intuit Reseller, Beverly Lang, CEO of Diversified Management Group. We travelled the technology walk to our final destination, we found other familiar Intuit Reseller faces:

At the end Beverly and I spent a lot of time talking to Chris Hamilton, Leader of the Global QuickBooks Proadvisor Group. He was at the table showing the enhancements to the Find a ProAdvisor website. We had a great discussion with all of our wheels turning presenting ideas to ultimately bridge connections to Tax Accountants/CPAs, QuickBooks ProAdvisors and Intuit Resellers.

Chris Hamilton

When it was all over, it was raining. I remembered I’d brought umbrella’s for the Intuit Celebrities and ran over to present them. I explained to them that it was a gift that I had designed for my partners with my logo on them, meaning “At CBG we have you covered”. They were a big hit! With a smaller group of Resellers we continued our mini reunion over dinner.

It was an honor to attend this event and I am so happy to share my experience and knowledge. A Big Thank You to our Intuit Reseller channel: Simon Pass, Rebecca Brandenburg and our CSMs for selecting us to participate in this Event.